Archive for Goals
Barriers to Personal Growth and Development
Posted by: | CommentsDo you find yourself busting your buns striving hard for every step forward and in the end you still feel like you aren’t getting anywhere? Well you are not alone! You, like so many others, have barriers to your personal growth and development, some you are probably not even aware of. I have found that countless people have barriers to personal growth and development, some small and easily over come, some larger, needing more thought, action and planning. All of these barriers are keeping them, and probably you, from achieving your personal or career goals in life. But, know this, regardless of the barriers to your personal growth and development, you CAN hurdle these obstacles and cross the finish line to your goals. How? Well here are a few living and thinking adjustments that will get you started:
- Imagination / Vision
One of the more common barriers to personal growth and development is your ability (or lack of) to imagine and/or create a vision of your desired goal, dream or destination. You need to know, I mean really know, that what you can accomplish is limited or enhanced by your determination and ability to imagine and envision your desired future. Like Mr. Ford said, if you think you can or think you cannot… you are right! - Yesterday’s Stumbles
Running a close second in barriers to personal growth and development is yesterday’s stumbles or you might call them past failures. Do not spend your time dwelling in the past. Do not forget it entirely, but rather then wallow in regret, rebound in education. Every stumble large or small can teach you something, learn the lesson and your personal growth and development will quickly feel the benefits. - Support Systems
This barrier to personal growth and development gets missed a lot by many. So many get use to negative message from parent, friends, family and associates. Often you can go so use to it that you subconsciously begin to believe the “I can’t” message. You need get rid of, or at least off set, these negatives with a positive like minded support system. Find others striving to grow themselves, find groups and meet with them, find blogs and websites (like http://YourSuccessAtLast.com) where you can feed you mind with positive messages. Having this crew spurring you one will do wonders for your personal growth and development. - Planning
You had to know I was to link personal growth and development to planning and goal setting. Anyone’s lack of planning and goal setting is going to have a negative effect on their personal development and growth. There are a number of posts here that give some great tips and techniques to help you hone your goal setting skills so I will not try and labor my point. But, know that setting goals, figuring out how to reach them and defining a timeline for their accomplishment is critical to your personal growth and development.
Remember, no matter what your barriers to your own personal growth and development are – you can overcome them. Use your imagination to create the vision of your desired future. Set your goals, define how you will reach them and by when. Use yesterday’s stumbles as learning opportunities and surround yourself with like minded positively motivated people. Take these few simple actions and I am willing to bet that your personal growth and development will far exceed your wildest dreams.
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
Expect to Succeed
Posted by: | CommentsOne thing in life is almost guaranteed, if you plan to succeed and prepare carefully then and only then can you expect to have success in your efforts. Your planning and preparation will allow you to reach deep inside and pull out all the successful winning qualities that you were born with. Once you recognize that you have these qualities you can begin to develop them, allowing the winner within you to emerge. Regardless of the goal set whether it is earning more money, saving for a new home, getting that promotion, losing weight, or furthering your education you CAN expect to successfully achieve the goal if you lay out your goal intelligently, then plan and prepare for it thoroughly. For example, when you plan and prepare to complete a project successfully, then and only then, you can justifiably expect to complete the project. Mind you, not each and every one of your expectations will come to pass, as you would like them too. But by having a positive attitude towards your goals combined with your planning and preparation you give yourself an infinitely better chance of successfully completing your goals as you have envisioned them.
Now just because you have planned thoroughly and prepared exhaustively does not mean that the path from where you are today to where you want to be in your tomorrows will be a smooth one. In all likelihood it will be bumpy, full of twists and riddled with quick perilous turns. Know that none of this has anything to do with you personally or how much you prepared. It has far more to do with the fact that no one else is as interested in your success as you are. There will be those along your path that either accidentally or through conscious and malicious undertakings will hinder your efforts to reach your goals. You can reduce the accidental hindrances by working closely and keeping in constant communication with those that you need assistance from. As for the malicious, remember there will always be those out there in competition with you that have little or no integrity. Keep your head held high, work through the problems with dignity and the expectation that you will succeed and you will come out on top in the end and with a level on honor unmatched by those that would take the low road.
Always keep your character and dignity held in the highest regard as you hit your roadblocks. Your attitude, character and commitment to your goals will be the deciding factor on whether you successfully prevail over them or not. When the roadblock presents itself, go back to the basics: Review your plan of action, modify it to go over, through or around the roadblock. If you are unable to conceive a method to overcome the obstacle then seek advice from a trusted source. And as always constantly fill your mind with good information through books, CDs, MP3s, seminars etc. If your mind is filled with positive, optimistic thoughts and ideas you will be far more likely to come up with the creative solution you are looking for.
For more information on maintaining a healthy attitude towards your life, yourself and your goals may I suggest reviewing the following post found in my blog – just click on the title below open the post in a new window:
Expect to succeed by
Thinking successfully & Taking Action!
Tracy
One of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
3 Ways to Turn Obstacles into Milestones
Posted by: | CommentsI have found that there are two ways in which to view the world around you. One can have a positive outlook or one can have a negative outlook. Those struck with a negative view of the world that surrounds them take on a victim’s attitude. Life for them is a never-ending stream of pitfalls, perils and problems. Through the ‘woes-colored glasses’ of the negative attitude, one sees a world filled with inequality, injustice and intolerance. This outlook on the world around them taints their point of view – they do not expect much from the circumstances and people in their life, and thus they do not receive much from the circumstances and people in their life. Worse yet, when things do not go the way they would prefer, they simple tuck their tails between their legs, submissively accept the idea that “that is the way life goes” and believe there is nothing they can do to change it.
On the other side of the attitudinal coin, you will find those with a positive outlook on the world around them. Their view allows them to see a world of opportunity and possibility. While they are aware of the fact that they must work to receive what they want – they know deep inside that everything happens as part of the grand design or process that will eventually result in the success and happiness they desire and deserve.
People from both sides of our attitudinal coin will encounter obstacles, but generally only those with a positive outlook will be empowered enough to see their obstacles as stepping stones or better yet milestones. Do you know the number of times the average person, (whom has a propensity to lean towards a more negative outlook); will try to achieve a goal that is important to them? You may be surprised at the answer. On the average, they will try less than one time. Many never even try once, held back by the internal limitations set by their negative leaning attitude. Eighty percent of one’s limitations are within one’s self. All this leads to an even more interesting point of fact. Successful people fail far more than unsuccessful people do. However, successful people know and utilize three key ingredients to turn these obstacles, failures and frustrations into stepping-stones, milestones and signposts directing them towards their goal. These three ingredients are:
- Learn from your past
- Face your future mistakes
- Cut your losses
Learn from your past
Too many people do not take this important advice – often to the detriment of their lives and their career. Most of us are aware of the wealth of information available via the Internet, course materials and our network of friends, relatives and associates. However, one source of information often forgotten is the pool of knowledge within ourselves gained from the numerous mistakes we have made during the course of our lives and careers. What are the top three mistakes you have made in the past six to twelve months? What could you have done to avoid those mistakes, knowing what you now know? If you had it to do over, what would you do differently? Whom could you consult? At what point in the process of making the mistake could you have corrected it? What were the indicators of the mistake? How soon did they appear? What corrective action or change in direction can be taken now, or the next time a similar mistake is on the horizon?
These are but a few of the questions you can ask yourself in order to learn from your mistakes. In today’s world changes are happening at an ever-increasing speed, you will need to ‘see’ the changes needed and respond accordingly. Learning from your mistakes is an essential skill that will enable and empower you to become a master of change rather than a victim to it.
Face your future mistakes
The more you learn from you past, the better you can plan for your future. As your ability to learn from a mistake increases, you will view future pitfalls, perils and problems as stepping-stones, milestones and signposts redirecting you towards your goal. One important factor here is that you MUST be willing to face your mistakes. Failure to accept the fact that you made a mistake could deal a fatal blow to your success. Statistically speaking, seventy percent of all our decisions will turn out to be wrong. Given the current circumstances and available information they may seem right today, but in the fullness of time and as situations change they become mistakes we must adjust to.
Cut your losses
If seventy percent of our choices turn out to be wrong how does anyone ever become a success? By facing their mistakes and cutting their losses. Here is a key question to help you in this area. Knowing what I now know, would I get into this (business, relationship, endeavor, etc.) today? If the answer is no, then the decision and planning to be made is; how do I get out and how fast? Once you know that you have made a mistake, learn from it and correct your course accordingly. How do you correct or get out of the current situation, and how fast? It is when people and businesses refuse to accept that a mistake as has been made that the consequences continue to build, one upon the other, until it becomes unbearably wounding, and expensive, both personally and professionally.
Success Actions
- What is the largest mistake you have made recently?
- What could you have done to avoid the mistake?
- If you had it to do over, what would you do differently?
- Whom could you consult?
- How quickly could you correct it?
- What were the indicators of the mistake?
- How soon did they appear?
- What corrective action or change in direction can you take now?
- What other lessons can you derive from this mistake?
- What is the one largest milestone (obstacle) that you are facing today?
- What could this milestone teach you?
- If you have faced a similar milestone in the past – how did you overcome it?
- Do you know someone else that has overcome this type of milestone? If yes, consult them for advice to help you set your course
- Define your obstacle in as many different ways as possible
- Brainstorm as many solutions as you can. For any problem, no matter how big, or how complex it may be, there is a solution. All you have to do is find it! For an info on ‘Brainstorming,’ check out my Brainstorming post that will take you though a process and show you how to arrive at your solutions alone or with a group of ‘brains.’
- Set a goal to insure this obstacle becomes merely a milestone – use it to pave the way, not block the way, to your success. To be a goal setter, and more importantly a goal achiever, you have to have a written set of goals. Check my post on the 101s of goal setting.
- Be willing to cut your losses and change your direction on your course to your ultimate success. There is no shame in the making of a mistake if you are able to accept the responsibility, realize you are not perfect and get on with your life.
Think Successfully & Take Action
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s TOP Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs.
What Is Draining Your Resource Pool?
Posted by: | CommentsImagine that your body is a car. Your fuel is obviously the food you put inside it, much like the gasoline you pump into the tank of any Ford, Chevy or Dodge etc. This fuel is converted into energy to propel you along your life’s course, physically and mentally. The car uses the spinning motion of the engine to generate electricity for the lights, radio, power windows, power brakes, sensors, air conditioning, safety equipment and so on. When you use more and more of these pieces of equipment on your car, your fuel is depleted faster and faster. Most of us have experienced the fuel drain when driving a long distance running the air conditioning on full blast versus how much fuel is used when the air conditioning on is not on. Or the drain on the engine when climbing a steep hill with air conditioning on versus much easier the car seems to negotiate that same hill without the air conditioning on.
These same principles work on you in your daily life. As you go though your daily activities your level of energy needs rise along with your fuel consumption. If your working hard on a stressful job you use up energy quickly and your fuel level decreases. Pausing for a good meal, pumping fuel back into your ‘tank’ raises your level back up. But one thing we need to know is that it is not always what we do that has a drain on your pool of fuel.
Every action you take of course has a drain in your pool of resources. But one thing many folks do not consider is actions you do not take can have a serious drain on your fuel tank, mentally, and emotionally. Taking away energy that could be put to far more productive use. Think about if for a moment, you get up early, take an invigorating shower, and you are off to work. You listen to good music or positive motivational material on the way to work. You are feeling great as you pull up to the office. Getting to the door you open it and there it is, the disorganized room that you have been meaning to clean up for some time. This instantly has a depleting effect on your energy reserves, bringing them down. To build on this, on your way to lunch later you remember that you need to get your oil changed, more than seven hundred miles ago. More energy gets drained away.
These are only a couple simple examples. What if you have parents that live more than a thousand miles away and you realize that they are not going to be around much longer? Or, you are working on that big project and keep putting off that one task that really is not the most appealing to you, yet is critical to the completion of the project. These are just a couple more things that will drain your energy away and yet you are not ‘doing’ anything. So you can see it is not only what you do that depletes your energy, there is also what you do not do. They distract you, make you feel guilty, and siphon away at your fuel reserves. All this energy would be far better used on accomplishing your goals.
If you flip open the hood of your car you will see power cords and fuel lines connecting the engine to all the individual components of your car. This same principle works in your life, all those inactivitys have a ‘power cord’ to them draining your battery of its precious resources. Watt by watt, gallon by gallon all these power cords and fuel lines to things like unreturned phone calls, needed oil changes, disorganized desks and homes, unappealing yet necessary tasks undone, late bills etc., all of these will slowly (or often quickly) deplete your fuel tank. What you need to do is sit down and identify and eliminate all this drainage from your life. Below I am including a few things that are common drains on your energy resources:
- Spending too many hours in front of the Television
- Car needs an oil change or other service/repair
- Disorganized desk, office, home, garage
- Clothing that is tattered or in need of update
- Home décor that does not nurture your values/preferences
- Negative people
- Not being in a supportive relationship
- Being in a relationship that needs to end
- Working with people that result in you compromising your values
- Lack of proper or needed office equipment
- Overwhelmed with the mass of information that is bombarding you
- Avoiding conflict or confrontation
- Consistently stressful work leaving you exhausted/unsatisfied
- Not enjoying your job
- No personal interests that stimulate your mind
- Having a health issue that you are not getting help with from a qualified professional
- Not getting regular physical/dental check-ups
- Partaking in food that is not good for you too often
- Too much month at the end of the money
- Paying bills late
- Paying taxes late
- No plan for your financial future
- Insufficient insurance coverage (life, home, auto etc)
These are but a few examples to get you started on your own list. Once you sit down and compile your personal list of items stealing from your energy pool, count how many there are. Now do you see where a lot of your energy is going? While you may not be taking action on these, you will still be expending energy on them by way of them stealing it from you. Suppose the list above was your list and each one of them represented two watts of power. Now if you only have one hundred watts to work with each day, these twenty-three items would be stealing forty-six watts from your daily one hundred. Forty six percent of your energy is depleted as a result of your inactivity, leaving you with only fifty-four of your original one hundred watts. This will obviously have a serious impact on what you can get accomplished in your activities towards your goals, dreams and desires.
But now that you realize these are stealing away from your ability to reach your goals. You can reapply some of that stolen energy to get them accomplished and cleared off of your to-do list. The simply action of beginning to work on these items, that are distracting and draining you, will give you a tremendous relief. As you take care of these one by one you will begin to additionally feel a sense of accomplishment and a boost in your energy. This boost will be a motivating force for you to take on and clear off the next item. The action on the next item will again fuel your relief, sense of accomplishment and give you yet another resulting energy boost. Through the action on each item the cycle will begin again, until you have pulled the plug on all your energy draining items.
Imagine what you will be able to do when you go from fifty-four watts up to ninety or even your full one hundred. You will feel better, you will work more effectively and efficiently and you will get more done towards your goals. Mostly I personally believe the biggest win is that you will enjoy your life ever so much more.
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s TOP Motivated Coaches & Author of Sucess Atlas Programs
Motivation is the Spark
Posted by: | Comments“Motivation is the spark that lights the fire of knowledge and fuels the engine of accomplishment. It maximizes and maintains momentum” – Zig Ziglar
Well I can think of no better way to fire up this post than with that very quote. It speaks so well to the truism of motivation being the enabler of our success. As you go through that article, and any other article the causes you a moments pause about your direction, ask yourself this question: Do you merely drift along the current of life like a leaf on a stream? Pushed along the ebb and flow without choice or reason. Or do you take change of your direction? Know this, the answer to this question has a major impact on your life, (both personal and professional) because life is filled with ups and downs. The trip along life’s road is loaded with pit-fills, quick stops, blind turns and incomplete paths. Then, on occasion after our trails, we are blessed with a period where there are smooth paved avenues, lined with beautiful trees and no obstacles. However, this to shall pass and the next barrier, obstacle and challenge will offer itself up.
Motivation is a critical ingredient to our resilience and ability to get back up when we have been knocked down (or out). When you are down the right attitude and motivation can and will be the difference between responding positively or reacting negatively. This difference has many impacts personal, professional and financial.
Let me give you simple example. Some years ago I moved to the suburbs of the great city of Atlanta. This growing metropolis has the same challenges around traffic that I’m sure most of you face if you have to journey into a major metropolitan area during peak traffic periods. Even though I am about the most upbeat and positive guy that you will meet (short of Zig of course). I have to admit that occasionally I have uttered discouraging comments about the traffic. Whacked the steering wheel of my car and barked out orders to the driver in front of me. All of which was a pure waste of time. Because after all of my banter, the traffic was still there, and so was I. However, now my emotions were running on the negative side so any little thing just irritated them all the more.
Now my typical commute can be about an hour each way. That’s two hours a day, five days a week, bringing us to about 500 hours a year with vacations etc. If I were to make this barking, whacking banter a daily routine, I would certainly be flirting with potential accidents as I challenged drivers around me in my irritated state. Let’s not forget the physical effects that these negative emotions bring about (headaches, high blood pressure etc.)
No for me the obvious thing to do is take advantage of this time to in a more positive manner. I have a full library of audio education and motivation on MP3and CD. As soon as I get in the car to start my commute I drop in my CD or put on my iPod and I’m off down the road to work, and up the road to success. I have reviewed the works of Zig Ziglar, Anthony Robbins, Brain Tracy, Napoleon Hill, and Dale Carnegie. I have taken 1 00s of hours in personal/professional development courses in subjects like e-commerce, goal setting, creativity, growing IQ the list goes on and on. This automobile university has served me well in numerous ways. Paying off in the motivation that has sparked ideas I have turned into actions in the real world.
FACT – the audios I listened to during these drive times never once said, “Tracy here is the solution to your problem.” Some of my audios gave me information others gave me some positive thoughts to ponder. A person, who wants to maximize their life, will schedule regular motivational input and regular educational input. This input will be about their job, about who they are or who they want to be, or even about something entirely new and unrelated to anything they do currently. These injections of new concepts, ideas, confidence-building thoughts, and opinions will energize you, building your momentum and your motivation, thus bringing you up emotionally! You learn more when you are up; you perform better when you are up and people will react to you more positively when you are up. So right now is the time to take out some motivational insurance. Take out your scheduler and schedule yourself regular intervals of motivational and educational input. Do this now – it will pay off in big rewards!
Lets take a look at the dictionary for the definition of motivation (motivate, motive)
Mo-ti-vate:
to provide with, or affect as, a motive; incite.
Mo-tive:
1 – an inner drive, impulse, etc. that causes one to act; incentive.
2 – of or causing motion
Combining your regular infusion of motivational material with your educational materials will provide the drive and impulse (motivational material) to set into motion the new concepts, ideas, confidence-building thoughts, and opinions (educational material) that will energize you. This will further build momentum and motivation, bringing you up higher! Are you seeing the pattern here?
You can not stand in front of the stove of life and say “Stove give me some heat and I’ll put some wood in you!” You will have to put some work into it first by stoking the fire that will warm your motivational soul.
Let me share with you 10 things you can do when you can’t seem to get motivated.
- Get some rest. One of the major de-motivators in today’s society is lack of rest. Go to bed an hour early so you catch up on your rest. Or you could take a nap instead. A good night’s sleep is essential to your level of effectiveness and motivation.
- Get some exercise. Take a walk, a jog, workout or whatever level of physical exercise you can partake in. Exercise gets your endorphins flowing and this will do wonders for how you feel. Not to mention you’ll be doing your body some good to. (be sure not to hurt yourself) – every day should start with your Hour of Power (more on that in another post).
- Tap the sap. Figure out what is sapping your energy and get rid of it.
- Pamper yourself. Take some time for you. This could be a mini-vacation (a few hours to a day or two) Get away from everything and enjoy yourself. Clear your head and come back refreshed.
- Review your goals. Review and remember why you are doing what you’re doing. If you decide now is not the time for a goal, them dump the goal. Remember you can always renew that goal again when the time is right.
- Play with it. Get out a calendar and leave yourself some cute notes or pictures (sticker work great here) about your goals and activities. Send yourself letters in the mail to keep you up and charged. Here is a way you can use those free things on the net. Places like Yahoo.com have free calendars that will send you notes and reminders. Make them fun!
- Use trusted advisers as a cheering section. You can have them send you notes (see #6 above). You want them to motivate you but don’t let them white wash the facts. Constructive criticism is key tool here. That way you are motivated to grow or keep growing.
- Find your song. We all have a song or songs that move us. Make yourself a Mp3 or CD full of these motivational songs. High-energy songs are best whether they are Bach or Backstreet Boys as long as they move YOU
- Listen to your motivational audios/CDs. Your car does not have to be the only place you go to get motivated.
- Hire some help. I hired a maid for my wife. I have a martial arts trainer and a personal success coach too. These coaches and trainers can help you accomplish those things you can’t handle alone.
Motivation enables you to effectively use not only recently acquired knowledge, but also it will ignite, incite and enable you put in motion, things that you thought were long ago forgotten. Science has shown us that inspirational information conveyed in an enthusiastic manner activates the pituitary gland, which releases neurotransmitters that enhances our energy, creativity, and endurance. Keep your motivation up with your regularly scheduled motivational injections (articles like this one are a good start). Keep your pool of knowledge growing so you have more wood to stoke that fire with.
“Your motivation will positively fuel your attitude. Your positive attitude builds the confidence necessary to be persistent. And of course we already know persistence pays off.” – Tracy Brinkmann
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkman
One of Today’s Top Motivatated Coaches
Developing Passion
Posted by: | CommentsPassion for anything you want to have, be or do occurs at the very moment you get a peek at the potential for the goal. Whether your goal is self-improvement, a project, a mission or any other worthy objective.
My mission with these blog is to give you a peek at your own potential. A fleeting look at what you are able to have, to do and to become. Once I have accomplished that goal, there will be born within you a spark of passion. When you fan that spark it will grow into a burning desire that no one can stop. Those with a burning desire have persistence and they reach their goals, every time.
How do you develop passion? Well I was recently asked that question so I sat and thought about it for a while and came up the following:
1. Know what you truly want and develop a plan to get it.
During the course of my life a number of pivotal events have developed passion deep with me. The birth of my first daughter, the death of my second daughter, the birth of my third daughter, hearing the applause of an appreciative audience for the first time, the list goes on and on. While each of these events sparked a life changing passion, most of the time my passion comes from a careful review of my dreams, desires and goals. What do I want out of life? Where do I want to be in 1, 2 or 5 years? A careful review of your goals (long and short-term), and the development of a detailed plan (a Success Atlas)to attain them will do wonders do develop the passion you need.
You check out these previous posts for more Goal Setting tips:
10 Ways to Stay Focused on Your Goals
5 Tips to Map Out Clear Goals
Value of Goals – Goals of Value
3 Tips for Goal Setting
Ways to Climb Your Mountain
2. Daily action toward your goals.
Once you have completed step one, (remember in 100% of the cases I have found that anyone that will not take step one… will never get to step two) and developed the plans to reach your goals. Take DAILY steps towards their attainment. As you take these daily steps, your goal will become increasingly closer, increasingly more real, more vivid and more enticing. This will fuel your excitement, enthusiasm and your commitment to follow through on your goals until they are attained. A bonus gift here is, with each step you complete, each little success you achieve, your self-confidence and self-esteem will increase. It is a like a river feeding itself. Complete a step, feel better, gain confidence and passion, become more committed to your goal then take the next step towards the goal. Then you complete another step, feel better, gain confidence and passion, become more committed to your goal then take the next step towards it. Are you seeing the pattern here?
3. Direct your passion.
The next time you are passing a construction site take a moment to notice the immense power of the vehicles at work there, dump trucks, tractors, and cranes to name a few. Each weighing tons and able to move far more than their weight across a road, up hundreds of feet into the air or down the freeway at considerable speeds. The next time you see one of these powerful vehicles roaring down the highway, take a quick look at the driver behind the wheel. All 180-220 pounds of him (or her) are controlling all that power. What would happen if you were to remove that driver from the steering wheel? The power would be rendered useless or worse yet would roll on without regard to its surroundings wreaking havoc until it came to a crashing halt.
We need to be at the helm of our passion, making effective use of the power our passion holds, much like the driver of those massive vehicles. Effectively steering your passion synergizes all of your great qualities into a finely tuned ‘machine’. Each of these qualities working in harmony with the other. Creating an overall ‘power’ within you that is greater than each of your qualities individually. So bring your passion to focus on your goal.
History is filled with stories of average everyday men and women who have accomplished great things with little more than a passion in their hearts and a goal in their head. Apply your passion to goal, job, profession, family or to yourself and you will see the difference between just getting by and real success.
Then once you have that passion here are some post to help you keep it through all the trials and tribulations that world will throw at you:
Three More Ways to Stay Positive
Four Ways to Stay Highly Motivated
Think Successfully & Take Action.
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
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What is Personal Development?
Posted by: | CommentsThere are many people in our society today that are very unhappy with their lives for one reason or another. Whatever reason they have for being unhappy, there is undoubtedly a way to change it. Sometimes it requires a change in career, or situation. Other times it is simply a change in the way that people think. Sometimes, it is both. This is what personal development is all about.
Personal development is a path that you take to better your family situation, career, spirituality, emotional health, and every other aspect of your life. Essentially, personal development is about making conscious decisions about everything that you do, the way that you think, and the way that you react to situations. Personal development can help you obtain everything that you always dreamed of, and more, with the simple application of a few simple mind sets and tools.
One of the biggest steps toward personal development is a change of mind set. If you think that you can do better, you will. If you think that you are stuck in a dead end job, without family or friends to support you, and no prospects of a better future, you will ultimately be very unhappy. When you change your mind set to positive thinking, you will find that you put forth more effort into everything that you do, and you will have much better results.
Another one of the important steps toward personal development is to set obtainable goals. This is not to say that your dream is not obtainable. But if you constantly think about the goal of being a millionaire with a successful family, you will feel pretty hopeless as that goal seems so far out of reach. Setting obtainable goals simply means that you set goals that lead to the ultimate goal.
It is really about taking steps. When you decide that you need food in your refrigerator, it does not automatically appear. You must make a grocery list, go to the grocery store, shop for items, purchase them, bring them home, and put them in the fridge. Obtaining a large goal is much the same way. You will not get there overnight. It takes going through a series of steps, or smaller goals, to find your way.
Smaller goals also help you to see the bigger picture. Instead of thinking that you are never going to reach your final goal, you will see the progress that you are making as you complete each smaller, more obtainable goal. This will give you a sense of accomplishment, as well as help you to change your thinking to a more positive mind set.
For some, personal development is also a matter of moving beyond past failures and misfortune to see what is possible in the future. Often the negative comments made by friends and family over a life time can be difficult to overcome. Past failures, or just the feeling that one is a failure, are another major obstacle. There are ways to move beyond these obstacles.
- Personal development is really about making changes.
Finding WORTHWHILE resources to make changes, move past obstacles, set goals, and find happiness is not always easy – trust me I spent many a year on the hunt. But with all of the personal development books, articles, websites, and other resources available, personal development and happiness can be obtained. For those who need additional help or want to speed up their success moving past obstacles and making those changes, I would also suggest that personal development coach can also be of great worth. I do not say that to pitch you on coming to me – but rather as a choice in your success arsenal. Now if you choice to come to be for one of my coaching products or services – all the better. If not, find someone something that fits your style, and situation and get to Your Success At Last!
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
Once of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
http://YourSuccessAtLast.com
http://YourSuccessAtLast.com
FREE Video reveals how I went from the
Streets of LA to running my own company!
View the Free Video and Learn More!
Today Is
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the learning’s in life that I would like to share with you today is a lesson that is probably as old as the peaks of Mt. Everest and for many just as hard ascend. It is a lesson of living in the NOW and learning of what today is. You see, many of us look backward too much, while others look forward too much – thus missing the joy of living in the moment that today is, allowing it to pass us by. Two very special people in my life come to mind, one of which lives in a angry past and the other lives in this dark future he has forged. Both fall prey the disease of missing what today is, and as a result are unable (or unwilling) to get the joy that is all around them this very minute. Do you know somehow like this? Do you know someone like this intimately perhaps?
It would seem, these days that fear of LIFE is a quiet pandemic killing many without their knowledge. Those inflicted by this poisonous phantom loose their happiness to the fears of yesterday and/or woes of tomorrow. For example, those who are afraid of growing old – forget the intelligent design of Mother Nature. More often then not, as one part of a person’s bodily vigor wanes, it gives way to the ability of their mind and spirit to be grown exponentially. By living in the now, they can not only see that shift but are able to tap it quickly. So rather then fret over your past or woe over your yet unrealized future, suppose you consider what today is, what it can be, what it offers you in opportunity.
You should get a note card and write on it ‘TODAY IS the best day of the year!” Now, hang this card in a place you will see it everyday. You see today is the day you can set that new goal, begin to wean yourself off that bad habit, meet that special person, or just do a good deed for yourself or someone else. If you treat today as if it were the best day of the year – then today is going to back at you with a smile. Today only looks uncaring to the thoughtless and the malicious, so do not put yourself in their company. Realize that today is a day you can get something accomplished – not matter how small!
We should all wake up, run our entire day and go back to bed knowing that today is the same kind of day that occurred when the greatest events in history took place. Whether today is rainy, sunny, snowy, hot or cold – some great even took place in history on a day just like this one. Today is a single tile in the mosaic of your life. That tile can either enhance the beauty of or detract from the finished piece – but it is your choice. Will you choice an active colorful and attractive tile for the day or a dingy, dull, gray, uninteresting and unchallenged tile?
What if today’s tile was going to be your last tile? What tile would you choose then? I would imagine (and hope) it would be a colorful one. So, perhaps that should be the tile you choose for each and every one of your todays.
Do not fall prey to the pandemic of hating your past or fearing your tomorrows. But rather put you energy and your thoughts into what today is. For all of use there is a time to be born and a time to die – it is what we do with the todays between those two points that makes all the different.
Your Success At Last Action Steps:
- Take a few minutes to Review and consider your past
- Write down those things you regret
- What would you do different
- What did you learn from the experience
- Write down those things that you are proud of
- Write down those things you regret
- Write down how you would like your future to look
- Give it detail.
- Be able to see it, feel it, even smell it
- Use your notes from your past to avoid pitfalls of the future
- Give it detail.
- Create a Plan (Success Atlas) to get you from here to there
- Break it down into bite size step
- With your goals you can live in the NOW and choose colorful tiles everyday.
- Break it down into bite size step
- REMEMBER: TODAY IS, the best day of the year!
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
http://YourSuccessAtLast.com
http://YourSuccessAtLast.com
FREE Video reveals how I went from the
Streets of LA to running my own company!
View the Free Video and Learn More!
Five Ways to Break a Bad Habit
Posted by: | CommentsOkay, let’s start of with a round of pure honesty with each other as well as with ourselves. We all have a bad habit (or two or three) that we would love to be free of. It might be biting our nails, overeating, procrastination, smoking or any other one from the long list of nasty, success sucking habits – many of which are much easier to eliminate than imagine.
Now for the good news! With some shifts in your perception, perseverance, and determination you CAN be free of that nasty little habit (or those nasty little habits if you are like I was.) In order to make it easier for you to shake that habit free from your life I want to give you a few tips on dump it like the morning trash.
Here are five strategies that can help you break a bad habit:
- Commitment. Is this something that YOU truly want to accomplish? Make sure it is! After all, it is nice to “talk the talk,” but in the end you will need to by “walking the walk” as well – or you will feel worse about yourself AND you will still have the habit. So, Be honest with yourself! Is not honestly the right time to kick your bad habit? If it is, are you trying to flush this bad habit for YOUR own reasons, or are you falling to the pressure of someone in your circle of influence?
- Only take on this commitment for one person – YOU! Don’t let yourself be pressured by others. It is your time and energy not theirs that will be expended on make this goal a reality, so invest your time and energy in the way YOU believe will give you the greatest end result.
- Journaling. A life worth living is a life worth recording. Every time you find yourself engaging in your targeted bad habit…Jot down it down. I do not want you to look on this as a way to punish yourself, but rather, as a way to give you an insight of just how often your undesired behavior is occurring. This insight will better arm you in devising ways to break this bad habit.
- Be sure to include the thoughts and feelings that you experienced just before and/or during the behavior (bad habit). Again, this will give you insight on whether you are engaging in this habit out of stress, boredom, being tired, etc. It may seem a bit time consuming to record all these thoughts and actions, but I can attest that it will be a wonderful tool in speeding up your success in breaking your bad habit.
- Fill the void – Choose an alternative behavior. Getting rid of a bad habit creates a ‘vacuum’ – the universe does not like vacuums (except in space). So you will need to pick some other activity or behavior that will serve as either a short term reminder of or, a long term replacement to, your bad habit, thus filling that vacuum.
- For example, after serving six years in the military I came out with bad cussing habit. When my daughter started learning to talk, I decided I did not want her to pick up my adult language so I to choose to drop the consonant ridden four-letter words from my vocabulary. In their place I choose to put the word ‘bloody’as a long term replacement. Thus, allowing my passionate nature to express itself but in a more acceptable manner.
- Some other ideas are to take a walk, read a book, sing a song, or cook. Any activity can be used as an alternative behavior. But remember, you do not want to replace one bad habit with another one, but anything that can redirect your focus works well.
- Start scheduling the replacement NOW! Now that you have selected your alternative behavior, immediately start inserting it in place of your bad habit. But in some cases a gradual shift may work better for you than a complete and immediate change.
- Perhaps in your habit’s case it would be better to start with once this week, then twice next week, and so on, until you are practicing your alternative behavior instead of the bad habit consistantly.
- Remember, you did not learn your habit overnight, do not expect to change it overnight. Please practice patience! People learn different behaviors at a different pace. Just because your best friend was able to quit smoking in one week, does not guarantee that you can. Nor does their need to take three months to loose two pounds mean you need six month to loose four.
- Share this GIVE UP goal! Zig Ziglar taught me that when it comes to your goals, you share your Go Up Goals carefully with trusted people. But your Give Up Goals – those you share with everyone. Do not keep this a secret. If you have made the decision to break a habit, tell your friends, your family and your co-workers. This is the time when you need their support to help you be successful.
- Whether you succeed or not, choosing to try and break a habit is taking a major leap in a positive direction. That is why it is important to share what you are trying to accomplish with those that can help remind you. The people in your life that care, even a little bit, will be there to encourage you, offer support, and help you wherever they can.
Again, lets be honest, breaking a bad habit can be a difficult task, but it is not an impossible one. Use these techniques to make your journey easier, then celebrate your accomplishment when you’ve succeeded – because you did it and you deserve it!
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs.
http://YourSuccessAtLast.com
FREE Video reveals how I went from the
Streets of LA to running my own company!
View the Free Video and Learn More!
Invest In the Right Tools
Posted by: | CommentsAre you investing in the right tools to build your life into the success you dream, desire and deserve?
If you have ever sat in a fine car, a fine home or just stood in front of a beautiful painting, you will have noticed not only the artistry and attention to detail that went it that car, home or painting. But upon closer inspection you would have noticed the quality of the raw materials that the home was made of, the attention to detail in the painting and how well the individual parts of that fine car worked concert make your driving experience a far more pleasurable one.
So I would ask you again are you investing in the right set of tools to help yourself become a success? If you truly desire to reach your goal, achieve higher level of success or become all that you can become then you are going to need to make sure you are building your success on a foundation of quality materials put together by quality tools.
When I was a kid I remember wanting to build a club house in the field across the street from my house. My and my best friend Walter, went around the neighborhood and behind the local shops collecting various materials: pieces of scrap wood, old used and often rusted or bend nails, tarps, pieces of scrap metal and so on. Then with an old hammer and saw we set to work to build our clubhouse.
Four to six hours, three blisters, two spinters and one wounded thumb later, we were sitting within the four walls and shoddy roof of our new club house. While it was fun for the few days it remained standing – it sadly toppled with the first breeze.
How many people have you seen approach their success with the same, last minute haphazard methodology? They take scraps of knowledge, and rusted bits of information and try to build their Trump Plaza of success. Which upon the first breeze of trouble – topples over like a deck of cards. Then they do like we did with our club house – leave it their in a pile of discarded waste and move on to the next project dejur.
Create Plans, Gather Quality Materials and Use Worthy Tools
Do not waste your time dragging together an easy access pile of scrap or dead wood knowledge and rusted nails expecting to build a dream house or successful life. Instead, take the time to draw up plans (Set Goals), make a list of all the supplies (Knowledge, resources etc) that you will need, and set about getting them.
Be wary of waste and extravagance in your gathering of your supplies. Balance your willingness to invest in quality supplies with what you truly need to have to get the job done. While, you want to create a ‘house’ that is not only beautiful, but can withstand the elements and endure the test of time. But are you trying to build the Hurst Castle or just a quality four bedroom two and one half bath home that is stable and comfortable? The choice is yours – but knowing answer up front will determine the correct materials you collect. It will be a little difficult to build the Hurst Castle with the studs and drywall you would use to build a house.
Do this in your personal and professional life. Take the time to make sure you have thoughtfully explored the options and have a clear vision of your goal in mind! Plan, research and seek the advices of others in order to have a realistic idea of the skills and knowledge you will need in order to achieve your goals and live the life you dream, desire and deserve! Once you have this blue print of understanding and then you can collect the right skills, knowledge and resources.
Know what you want, be willing to make the necessary investments in energy, time, and money and you CAN make your dreams become your reality!
Here are three questions to help your reach Your Success At Last – take the time to sit down and write out your ansers.
Your Success At Last Questions:
- Do I have a clear picture of my goals?
- Have I taken the time to figure out what skills I may need to achieve my goals?
- What investments are necessary to succeed?
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
FREE Video reveals how I went from the
Streets of LA to running my own company!
View the Free Video and Learn More!